Megadeth could preview new tracks ahead of European tour

Dave Mustaine says new material from the band could be released as soon as next month - as he hints at a David Ellefson ballad

Shares

Megadeth(Image credit: Jeremy Saffer)

Dave Mustaine says new Megadeth material could be released as soon as next month.

The vocalist and guitarist has been speaking with Rolling Stone as the band continue to work on the follow-up to 2016’s Dystopia – and he hints that it could even contain a ballad by bassist David Ellefson.

Mustaine reports they’ve composed “nine really crushing songs” and he hopes to premiere two or four of them ahead of Megadeth’s upcoming European tour with Five Finger Death Punch and Bad Wolves, which gets under way in January.

And, in something of a surprise, he says he’s been encouraging bassist David Ellefson to compose a ballad which is based on the pair’s tempestuous relationship.

Mustaine says: “I said to him, ‘What was the biggest song that Kiss ever had?’ He goes, ‘Beth.’ I said, ‘Yeah, we should write a song like Beth, where it’s a ballad and it’s just you singing it.

“I think you should write a song about what it’s like being in Megadeth with me, because I read all your lyrics, and I know that your lyrics are aimed at me. You’re upset. So why don’t you write about it?’”

Mustaine says the unnamed track still needs some “fine-tuning” and even if it doesn’t make it on to the new record, it’ll come out at some point in the future.